北大高岩事件助推中国“我也是”运动A Young Woman’s Rallying Cry for #MeToo in China, 20 Years After Her Death

来源：纽约时报 2018-04-10 11:44

BEIJING — She was a promising young student of Chinese literature with sterling grades and an industrious work ethic. But in 1998, during her sophomore year at one of China’s most prestigious universities, Gao Yan was raped by a professor, her friends and relatives say, and soon after she killed herself.

Now, on the 20th anniversary of her death, Ms. Gao’s story has become a rallying cry for China’s fledgling #MeToo movement, inspiring calls for the government to do more to prevent sexual assault and harassment.

China has so far greeted the #MeToo movement with caution, seemingly out of concern that it could threaten stability in the country’s male-dominated halls of power.

到目前为止，中国对“我也是”运动持谨慎态度。这似乎是担心它可能会威胁到中国以男性为主导的权力机构的稳定。

But in recent days, millions of people have shared Ms. Gao’s story online, even as the government has deployed censors to stamp it out.

但最近几天，尽管政府已部署审查机构删帖，仍有数百万人在网上分享高岩的故事。

Ms. Gao’s classmates brought the case back into the public sphere when they recently posted remembrances describing how she had told them that a professor at Peking University at the time, Shen Yang, forced her to have sex. Ms. Gao also told friends that Mr. Shen had spread rumors that she had a mental illness.

Many people have held up the case as an example of the abuse and discrimination women in China experience.

很多人把此事作为中国女性遭受虐待和歧视的一个例子。

“The hidden victims are inspired by the promise of justice and have become brave enough to speak up,” said Zoe Chen, 24, a student activist in Dalian, a northeastern city.

“隐藏起来的受害者受到正义可能得以伸张的鼓舞，勇敢地站出来发声，”东北城市大连24岁的学生活动人士佐伊·陈(Zoe Chen)说。

The widespread anger over the case has brought unusually swift action. Several universities in recent days condemned Mr. Shen, who currently teaches at Nanjing University in eastern China.

此案激起的广泛愤怒促使各方异常迅速地采取了行动。最近几天，数所大学谴责了目前在南京大学任教的沈阳。

Peking University, where Mr. Shen taught until 2011, vowed over the weekend to do more to prevent sexual harassment, saying it had “zero tolerance” for violations of students’ rights. The university also revealed that it had given a warning to Mr. Shen over suspicion of inappropriate behavior after the police investigated the case in 1998.

Student activists said they were pleased that the case had resonated so widely. But they said universities needed to give students more of a say in determining how sexual harassment and assault are reported on campus, and to better train professors in appropriate conduct with students.

“Merely resolving one or two specific cases is meant to gag the public,” said Zheng Xi, 30, an activist in the eastern city of Hangzhou.

“只解决一两起具体案件是为了堵住民众的嘴，”中国东部城市杭州30岁的活动人士郑熙（音）说。

Ms. Zheng said that since Ms. Gao’s death, Peking University had “shown no sense of introspection about the unequal power dynamics between students and teachers.”

郑熙说，高岩去世后，北京大学“没有表现出对学生和老师之间不平等权力关系的反思”。

While the #MeToo movement has struggled to gain wide traction in China, in large part because of the governing Communist Party’s tight control of civil society, universities have proved to be an exception.

在中国，“我也是”运动难以引发广泛的关注，这在很大程度上是因为执政党共产党对公民社会的严厉管控，事实证明高校是一个例外。

In recent months, students have used social media to accuse deans and professors of misbehavior, resulting in several high-profile firings. Sympathetic faculty members have signed petitions vowing a zero-tolerance stance toward sexual assault.

Zhang Yiwu, a professor of Chinese language and literature at Peking University, said the rise of the #MeToo movement in the United States had pushed China to tackle the problem of sexual harassment.

北京大学中文系教授张颐武表示，“我也是”运动在美国的兴起对中国解决性骚扰问题起到了推动作用。

“We were ignorant of sexual harassment,” he said. “Now we know this issue better. We are learning from the Americans.”

“我们过去对性骚扰不了解，”他说。“现在我们更了解这个问题了。我们正在向美国学习。”

Ms. Gao’s classmates have been pressing for justice since she died. As Chinese families gathered last week to celebrate Qingming Festival, a time of remembering the dead, one, Li Youyou, posted a widely shared essay in which she criticized Mr. Shen for not apologizing.

“Twenty years have passed,” Ms. Li wrote. “Your constant lies and crimes should be put to an end.”

“20年过去了，”李悠悠写道。“你的一贯谎言连同你的一贯罪恶，该终结了。”

The essay spread quickly across the internet and was covered widely in the Chinese news media. On Monday, Caixin, a prominent Chinese news site, reported that another former student, Xu Hongyun, had accused Mr. Shen of sexual harassment. The article was quickly deleted.

Ms. Gao’s parents have also spoken out in recent days. In one video, her mother, Zhou Shuming, read a letter her husband had written. “Your mother and I were too careless and didn’t take good care of you,” the letter said. “My daughter, please forgive us in heaven.”